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1. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleoecological context of Galili, Ethiopia using bovid dental metrics.

   Slotter, A. ; Simpson, S.W. ( April 2018 , American journal of physical anthropology)

   Paleoanthropological and geological field research at Galili, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia was reinitiated in 2016. The site has been established as encompassing sediments ranging between 2.5-4.5± Ma and includes early Australopithecus and perhaps Ardipithecus . While preliminary paleoenvironmental analyses have suggested open woodland to bushland-wood - land and shrubland, we present here additional evidence of the diet and functional anatomy of the Early Pliocene bovids from Galili. Fossil bovids have been recognized as a crucial tool in understanding ancient environments and serve as an important ecological indicator. Establishing the habitats of Galili is important for both understanding the environment in which the fauna, including hominins, resided and providing comparison to other contemporaneous sites. Taxonomic identification and metric analyses were performed on bovid teeth (n=93) from the 3.9-4.4 Ma Shabeley Laag and Dhidinley members to reconstruct the paleoenvironment. The sample was dominated by Reduncini, a riparian-associated tribe, and Tragelaphini, a browsing-associated tribe. Hypsodonty index was calculated for each tribe and results suggest the most abundant bovid taxa trend towards the brachydont category. Only three tribes: Alcelaphini, Antilopini, and Hippotragini fell within the mesodont category, and no tribes had hypso - dont indices. Mesowear analysis of the sample indicated high occlusal relief and rounded cusp shapes were most common. Taken together, our results indicate a trend in bovid diet towards mixed feeding and browsing at Galili. We thank Prof. H Seidler and his team for allowing access to the fossils they collected. 

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2. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleoecological context of Galili, Ethiopia using bovid dental metrics

   Slotter, A. ; Simpson, S. W. ( January 2018 , American journal of physical anthropology)

   Paleoanthropological and geological field research at Galili, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia was reinitiated in 2016. The site has been established as encompassing sediments ranging between 2.5-4.5± Ma and includes early Australopithecus and perhaps Ardipithecus. While preliminary paleoenvironmental analyses have suggested open woodland to bushland-woodland and shrubland, we present here additional evidence of the diet and functional anatomy of the Early Pliocene bovids from Galili. Fossil bovids have been recognized as a crucial tool in understanding ancient environments and serve as an important ecological indicator. Establishing the habitats of Galili is important for both understanding the environment in which the fauna, including hominins, resided and providing comparison to other contemporaneous sites. Taxonomic identification and metric analyses were performed on bovid teeth (n=93) from the 3.9-4.4 Ma Shabeley Laag and Dhidinley members to reconstruct the paleoenvironment. The sample was dominated by Reduncini, a riparian-associated tribe, and Tragelaphini, a browsing-associated tribe. Hypsodonty index was calculated for each tribe and results suggest the most abundant bovid taxa trend towards the brachydont category. Only three tribes: Alcelaphini, Antilopini, and Hippotragini fell within the mesodont category, and no tribes had hypsodont indices. Mesowear analysis of the sample indicated high occlusal relief and rounded cusp shapes were most common. Taken together, our results indicate a trend in bovid diet towards mixed feeding and browsing at Galili. 

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3. A preliminary reconstruction of the paleocological context of Galili, Ethiopia using bovid dental metrics.

   Slotter, A. ; Simpson, S. W. ( January 2018 , American journal of physical anthropology)

   Paleoanthropological and geological field research at Galili, Afar Regional State, Ethiopia was reinitiated in 2016. The site has been established as encompassing sediments ranging between 2.5-4.5± Ma and includes early Australopithecus and perhaps Ardipithecus. While preliminary paleoenvironmental analyses have suggested open woodland to bushland-woodland and shrubland, we present here additional evidence of the diet and functional anatomy of the Early Pliocene bovids from Galili. Fossil bovids have been recognized as a crucial tool in understanding ancient environments and serve as an important ecological indicator. Establishing the habitats of Galili is important for both understanding the environment in which the fauna, including hominins, resided and providing comparison to other contemporaneous sites. Taxonomic identification and metric analyses were performed on bovid teeth (n=93) from the 3.9-4.4 Ma Shabeley Laag and Dhidinley members to reconstruct the paleoenvironment. The sample was dominated by Reduncini, a riparian-associated tribe, and Tragelaphini, a browsing-associated tribe. Hypsodonty index was calculated for each tribe and results suggest the most abundant bovid taxa trend towards the brachydont category. Only three tribes: Alcelaphini, Antilopini, and Hippotragini fell within the mesodont category, and no tribes had hypsodont indices. Mesowear analysis of the sample indicated high occlusal relief and rounded cusp shapes were most common. Taken together, our results indicate a trend in bovid diet towards mixed feeding and browsing at Galili. 

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4. Pastoralism, hunting, and coexistence: Domesticated and wild bovids in Neolithic Sudan

   https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3223  

   Monroe, Shayla ; Smith, Stuart Tyson ; McClure, Sarah B. ( March 2023 , International Journal of Osteoarchaeology)

   The interactions between mobile pastoralists and semi‐sedentary Nilotic foraging groups in the Middle Nile Valley had long‐term implications for the development of social complexity as seen in the ancient African kingdom of Kerma. This study presents the results of the zooarcheological analysis of animal remains from two sites in the 4th cataract of the Nile valley, El Ginefab and Shemkhiya, and compares findings to other published sites in the region during a period of significant climatic change. Results indicate that the communities living at Shemkhiya and El Ginefab differed in terms of their meat preferences and their primary modes of bovid acquisition, and that pastoralist practices changed at El Ginefab through time. Hunting remained an important feature of subsistence practices, and regional comparisons indicate that the acquisition of wild bovids did not disappear with incorporation of domesticated livestock; however, pastoralists limited their hunting practices to smaller wild bovids in contrast to neighboring forager populations. A clear chronological overlap is documented between communities reliant on pastoralism and those reliant on hunting as a subsistence practice for several millennia. This highlights the need to more explicitly characterize and understand the dynamics of coexistence for the spread and establishment of pastoralism regionally, as well as how social ties, subsistence practices, and land use practices overlapped during periods of critical environmental changes and their implications for emerging social complexity.

    

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5. The first hominin from the early Pleistocene paleocave of Haasgat, South Africa

   https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2024  

   Leece, AB ; Kegley, Anthony D.T. ; Lacruz, Rodrigo S. ; Herries, Andy I.R. ; Hemingway, Jason ; Kgasi, Lazarus ; Potze, Stephany ; Adams, Justin W. ( May 2016 , PeerJ)

   Haasgat is a primate-rich fossil locality in the northeastern part of the Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa UNESCO World Heritage Site. Here we report the first hominin identified from Haasgat, a partial maxillary molar (HGT 500), that was recovered from anex situcalcified sediment block sampled from the locality. Thein situfossil bearing deposits of the Haasgat paleokarstic deposits are estimated to date to slightly older than 1.95 Ma based on magnetobiostratigraphy. This places the hominin specimen at a critical time period in South Africa that marks the last occurrence ofAustralopithecusaround 1.98 Ma and the first evidence ofParanthropusandHomoin the region between ∼2.0 and 1.8 Ma. A comprehensive morphological evaluation of the Haasgat hominin molar was conducted against the current South African catalogue of hominin dental remains and imaging analyses using micro-CT, electron and confocal microscopy. The preserved occlusal morphology is most similar toAustralopithecus africanusor earlyHomospecimens but different fromParanthropus. Occlusal linear enamel thickness measured from micro-CT scans provides an average of ∼2.0 mm consistent withAustralopithecusand earlyHomo. Analysis of the enamel microstructure suggests an estimated periodicity of 7–9 days. Hunter–Schreger bands appear long and straight as in someParanthropus, but contrast with this genus in the short shape of the striae of Retzius. Taken together, these data suggests that the maxillary fragment recovered from Haasgat best fits within theAustralopithecus—earlyHomohypodigms to the exclusion of the genusParanthropus. At ∼1.95 Ma this specimen would either represent another example of late occurringAustralopithecusor one of the earliest examples ofHomoin the region. While the identification of this first hominin specimen from Haasgat is not unexpected given the composition of other South African penecontemporaneous site deposits, it represents one of the few hominin localities in the topographically-distinct northern World Heritage Site. When coupled with the substantial differences in the mammalian faunal communities between the northern localities (e.g., Haasgat, Gondolin) and well-sampled Bloubank Valley sites (e.g., Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai), the recovery of the HGT 500 specimen highlights the potential for further research at the Haasgat locality for understanding the distribution and interactions of hominin populations across the landscape, ecosystems and fossil mammalian communities of early Pleistocene South Africa. Such contextual data from sites like Haasgat is critical for understanding the transition in hominin representation at ∼2 Ma sites in the region fromAustralopithecustoParanthropusand earlyHomo.

    

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